


Slow Start on a Downward Slope

by RiniRhyme



Category: Motorcity
Genre: Genderswap, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-06
Updated: 2012-09-06
Packaged: 2017-11-13 17:18:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/505873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiniRhyme/pseuds/RiniRhyme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike gets turned into a girl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow Start on a Downward Slope

Mike takes to being a girl like he takes to everything: calm, easy, and with a hint of cockiness. He doesn’t really change, not in the way that makes him Mike, but he’s shorter and curvier and causes Chuck’s voice to permanently fix itself to a higher octave.

“How do girls do this?” Mike’s asking Julie about bras. He has his hands on the twin bumps on his chest, face looking chagrined. “Jeez, they make running hard.”

Dutch is determinedly not looking at Mike fondling himself. Texas is talking about giving Mike an indestructible android body that’s impervious to pain and also included lasers, pew pew. Chuck can’t stop staring and is thanking every deity he’s ever heard of that his bangs are long enough to hide his eyes. He can’t avert them.

“Stop touching yourself in public,” Julie says, swatting the back of Mike’s head. “Come on, I’ll take you bra shopping.”

She leads him away, patiently answering the ridiculous questions Mike’s asking.

Dutch sighs when they disappear from view. “Man,” he says. “That is disconcerting.”

Chuck swallows, throat dry. “Yeah,” he agrees. “Do you think we should get back to fixing that ray gun?”

==

It’s just like Kane to use experimental weapons against them. The soldier that had the ray gun had no idea what it’s supposed to do other than the fact that it simply looked dangerous. When it zapped Mike, Chuck’s heart had seized in his chest and he might have screamed. But Mike had picked himself right off the ground again, smashed the ray gun, and clobbered the soldier to unconsciousness. Chuck’s heart started again and he had actually started to tear up when he noticed that Mike’s clothes were fitting a little oddly and that his voice was a little higher than usual.

It wasn’t until after the battle that Mike realized that he’s been turned into a girl. Chuck and Dutch did their best to salvage the bits and pieces of the ray gun in stunned silence.

“I am definitely a girl,” Mike said when he peeked into his pants.

“We definitely noticed,” Julie said wryly.

“Noticed what?” asked Texas.

==

Chuck’s puzzling through the programming he’s managed to salvage from the ray gun, doing his best to see if he can reverse what it did to Mike. Overwhelmingly, it seems to be a no, but he isn’t letting that stop him. Dutch is doing his best to rebuild the ray gun and there’s no reason why Chuck can’t do the same with the program. He nearly screams when a hand lands on his shoulder, disrupting his thought process.

“Chuckles,” Mike says, his voice rough with sleep. He sounds husky for a girl, but lighter than what Chuck is used to associating with him.

“Hi, Mikey,” Chuck says, looking away from his screen and up at Mike. His voice is a little wobbly, but he can blame that on the near heart attack that just happened. “What’s up?”

“It’s almost two in the morning,” Mike says. “You need to sleep.”

Chuck checks the time on his screen and realizes Mike’s telling the truth. It’s ten till two and he hadn’t even noticed. “Oh. Well, I’ll go get Dutch in the garage—”

“He went to sleep hours ago,” Mike interrupts. “Come on, Chuck.” He kicks Chuck roughly in the thigh to get him moving.

“Ow! Ow, okay!” Chuck shoots to his feet, saving his work and then turning off his holocom. Mike has a point; it’s late and his work will still be there tomorrow. He calls out a quick ‘good night,’ tiptoeing down the hall past the many closed doors, and had just made it into his own room when he realizes that that he’s not alone.

“Uh, Mikey?”

“Yeah?”

Mike manages to dodge the many things cluttered around the room, crawls into Chuck’s bed, steals the single pillow, and begins to settle in for the night. Chuck sighs and lets go of the petulant sounding ‘this is my room!’ that’s on the tip of his tongue. He grabs his pajamas, thinks twice about changing in the room, and goes back out into the hall and into the bathroom. He brushes his teeth and gets changed and when he goes back into his room, Mike is still there sleeping in his bed.

It’s no secret that Mike’s a little bit like a five-year-old. When he gets keyed up, he’s gets antsy and twitchy and when he crashes, he can pass out anywhere. Some of the weirdest places the Burners found him sleeping at had been the hallway, two steps away from his room; out in the streets leaning against an old signpost; and once in the storage room where Jacob keeps his junk, though Mike swears up and down that he’d been locked in, waiting for someone to rescue him.

Now, Mike is in an ungainly sprawl on the bed, the tank top he’s wearing riding dangerously high up. It’s unfair that he’s still toned, even if he’s been given more feminine qualities. Chuck’s just scrawny and he’ll probably never build muscle definition the way Mike or Texas can.

He tugs the sheets out from under Mike, careful not to wake him. “Jeez, Mikey,” Chuck whispers softly, fondly. “You’re a handful sometimes, you know that?”

Mike’s only response is to snore at him. Chuck tucks the sheets against Mike—Mike catching a cold will be the most terrible thing ever and Chuck has no desire to relive that particular experience.

Chuck sleeps in Mike’s room that night.

==

“No,” Chuck says the moment he sees the drop.

“Aw, come on, Chuckles! It’ll be fun.” Mike’s giving him a wide grin and a thumbs up sign from the driver’s seat in Mutt. Without so much as a warning, they’re off, Mike gunning the accelerator with even more of a daredevil attitude than usual.

Chuck is screaming, holding onto the dashboard and digging his nails in because Mike is insane and going over three hundred miles per hour is somehow fun for him. Mike only does it when they’re at the edge, where there’s no one to get in the way of his epic road rage, but the point is: Mike cannot drive like a normal person. Then again, none of the Burners do.

“We’re doing the jump!”

“ _Are you crazy?!_ You can’t make that!”

“Want to bet?”

Chuck doesn’t get another word in edgewise when Mike activates the supercharger and they’re racing through the course, everything around them blurring until the only thing that matters is going forward. He can’t even find it in himself to look over at Mike, though he’s positive that Mike’s grinning like a loon. His can feel it the moment they hit air because his stomach drops out from under him and for a moment, they’re floating in the air and Chuck hates that feeling.

One of these days, Mike is going to find himself trapped in a Mutt-shaped cage, possibly being crushed to death. Chuck really doesn’t want to think about it.

They touch down with a screech of tires and Mike laughing enthusiastically. “Made it!” Mike announces proudly, slowing Mutt down and then parking. They’re in the middle of nowhere, the lights of Motorcity far behind them, and here, it’s windy and dark.

Chuck flings the door open and his feet are on the ground before Mike can get anymore funny ideas in his head about driving them off of cliffs or partially destroyed roads. His heart is still pumping loudly in his ears and his voice is still high pitched like he’s been inhaling helium. “Don’t sound so satisfied—”

Strong hands slam him against the side of Mutt and a warm body presses against his. He hears something being said, though what he can’t make out, and then Mike is kissing him.

He doesn’t know what he’s doing or what Mike’s doing or hell, what either of them are doing, so he kisses back. When Mike finally pulls away, face flushed and lips shining and wet, Chuck does the most impulsive thing he’s done to date: bash their foreheads together.

“Ow! That actually hurt,” Mike says, but he doesn’t pull away.

“Is this a girl thing?” he asks, his voice breathy and pitched even higher than before. “Some weird hormone imbalance caused by you switching genders? Adrenaline rush? Or did someone dare you to do this?”

Mike manages to look offended at that. “No,” he says, drawing out the word. “I like you, so I kissed you.”

Chuck is sure his face is beet red. “O-Oh. I haven’t, erm—”

“What do you mean you haven’t? You stare at me all the time now that I’m a girl,” Mike says. “Even Texas noticed.”

“I just mean that it’s weird! I can’t think of you as a girl!” Chuck says. When Mike moves away, Chuck continues, undeterred. “You’re my best friend, you’ve always been—and when you turn back into a guy, you won’t! This can’t be a one-time thing! I-I won’t be able to take it.”

Mike swats him on the back of his head. “Seriously? Do I seem like a one-time kind of guy to you?”

“Um…”

Mike swats him again. “Sometimes, I wonder about you Chuckles,” he says with a roll of his eyes. He moves around Mutt to get back over to the driver’s side, but Chuck reaches over, snags him by the elbow before he can climb inside.

“If we do this, you can’t change your mind,” Chuck says. “You can’t just blame it on being a girl. That’s not fair.”

“And you?” Mike retorts. “You won’t change your mind because I won’t be a girl anymore?”

It clicks for him then: that’s why Mike’s so irritated.

Today, Chuck has been the bravest and most impulsive he’s ever been since…well, ever. What’s one more thing to add to the list? He pulls Mike close till he’s leaning against Chuck completely. It’s strange how much smaller he is than Chuck now; normally, when he slouches, he and Mike are eye-level. Now, he can still see the top of Mike’s head.

“Dude, I don’t know if you know this, but I can’t change my mind,” he says before his courage deserts him. “I will always, always be here for you if you want me to.”

He feels the noiseless sigh from Mike and suddenly the weight against him is heavier, pushing him back against Mutt’s more durable frame.

“Yeah,” Mike says, looking up at him with a small smile. “I know.”

==

“Show me,” Chuck says the moment he manages to corner Mike alone in the sitting room.

Mike gives him a bland stare from where he’s sitting on the salvaged sofa. “What? My boobs?”

“No! I don’t want to see your boobs, I mean I do, but not right now! Time and place, Mikey,” Chuck retorts. He holds up the small first-aid kit in his left hand. “I know you took a hit back there. Those KaneCo grunts aren’t exactly gentle, especially when you’re involved, girl or no. Come on, show me.”

It takes a few more moments of cajoling and when Mike finally shows him, Chuck winces internally at the sight. It’s an ugly spot on the back of Mike’s shoulder; the skin’s bruised and split and Chuck has no doubt that Mike would have just let it fester if he could have gotten away with it. No way in heck. Not while Chuck’s around.

He disinfects the cut with minor grumbling from his patient and when he’s done, he puts an icy towel to Mike’s shoulder.

“Yeesh!” Mike hisses at the touch, turning around to glare at Chuck. “That’s cold!”

Chuck grins in response, putting the first-aid kit away. “It’s good for your bruise. Leave it there.”

Mike grumbles some more though he doesn’t remove the towel from his shoulder. He reaches for the remote for his tiny remote-controlled car and starts to drive it around the room, diving around corners and furniture with the usual flair. Chuck settles next to him on the couch, starting up his screens to work on the ray gun’s programming again.

Dutch is nearly finished rebuilding it; he’s only waiting for Chuck to reverse-engineer what it did to Mike. He knows that he should finish soon, to give Mike his proper body back, but he can’t help being just a little bit selfish. He likes the way Mike curls against him on the couch now, likes that he’s able to touch Mike whenever he wants—however he wants. He likes the easiness in Mike’s smile at him, likes the reaction of the butterflies in his stomach because that smile is just for him. When they change Mike back, will he still want Chuck? He’s never wanted Chuck before, not when he was male.

He knows that they’ve had this conversation before, but Chuck still can’t believe it, can’t comprehend it. The cool, charismatic, leader of the infamous Burners Mike Chilton wanting to be with Chuck the Fearful Programmer? That doesn’t compute, not in his head.

==

“You got it?” Dutch asks.

Chuck nods, feeling more tired than usual. He runs a hand through his hair and hands Dutch the chip he and Jacob had put together. The ray gun ended up being a three-man job between Chuck, Dutch, and Jacob, not that Chuck minds because he’s a little out of his depths. It just means that today is the last day Mike’s a girl.

“You okay, dude?” asks Dutch, looking worried as he takes the chip from Chuck. “You’re not looking so good.”

“I’ll be fine,” he replies without energy. “Guess I’ll go grab Mike. Meet you out at the garage.”

He leaves a confused Dutch behind, moving past the sitting room and to their sleeping quarters. At this time without Kane interfering, Mike’s usually working out in his room or he’d be gunning Mutt around Motorcity doing odd jobs. Since Mutt is parked in the garage; that leaves one place he’d be.

“Mike?” Chuck knocks on the door. At first there’s no answer so he knocks again. Deciding that Mike can’t hear him, he opens the door a crack and peeks in.

The lights to the room are off, the steady thrum of the air circulator low and quiet. Mike’s small room, unlike Chuck’s, is kept impeccably neat; his dirty laundry is kept in a basket out of sight, his shoes are neatly lined up against the wall, and whatever knickknacks that are around are kept lined up on a shelf adjacent to the closet door. There’s a stand carrying dumbbells and plates, of which Chuck is certain that he can only adequately lift the stick. The bed is pushed against the far wall and on it, sprawled spread eagle, is Mike.

Contrary to what he thought, Mike is sleeping, though there’s a single towel hanging off of the bedframe indicating that Mike had just showered and therefore, finished with his afternoon workout. Chuck walks over with every intention to wake him, but when he gets close, stops. He gently brushes his fingers against the crown of Mike’s head and sighs.

“Chuck?” Mike sounds sleepy and disoriented. He cracks open a bleary eye to look up at Chuck. He must have woken up at the touch.

“Hey,” Chuck says, keeping his voice soft. “It’s done.”

Mike smiles. “Oh, is that all? You look like the world’s going to end.” He grabs Chuck’s hand and pulls him down onto the bed, even though it’s much too small to fit both of them comfortably. Chuck ends up curled on his side, looking straight into Mike’s eyes. It’s unnerving and he ends up looking to the wall behind Mike’s head instead.

They stay there like that, silent and still and breathing. After a while, Mike moves his hand to brush Chuck’s hair away from his face.

“I think I’m in love with you,” Mike says, his words so quiet that they’re nearly a whisper. He’s cupping Chuck’s face so he can’t look away.

Chuck is certain that he looks as he feels: terrified. He opens his mouth to reply, but Mike is smiling and leaning in, pressing their lips together and stopping whatever words that he would have said. Mike kisses him languid and slow, like he has all the time in the world, like he’s enjoying every moment of it. Maybe he is, Chuck supposes.

Chuck fumbles for Mike’s hands, giving them a small squeeze when he finally laces their fingers together. He smiles back weakly, presses their foreheads together, and breathes in time with Mike. “I know,” he says, trying to steady his rapidly beating heart within him. “I knew.”

Mike pulls back and thumps his head forward, knocking their skulls together lightly. “You’re an idiot sometimes, Chuckles.”

Chuck feels the smile on his face growing stronger, wider. “I am the genius that reversed-engineered KaneCo technology. You were the idiot that got zapped with it.”

Mike huffs a breath of laughter and tangles their legs, pressing them together as much as he can.

“Um,” says Chuck, blinking rapidly at the turn of events. “Dutch and Jacob are waiting…”

Mike’s reply is a sensual, open mouthed kiss and a thigh sliding up between Chuck’s legs that effectively melt his brain. “I think they can wait a bit longer,” Mike murmurs, eyes half lidded, and kisses him again.

==

Everyone is in the garage waiting, as it turns out. There’s a mess of cards on the floor and Chuck can only assume that they’ve been playing BS and Texas lost. Again.

“About time,” Julie says with an absolutely wicked grin when she sees them. “Enjoyed your last moments as a girl, Chilton?”

Chuck’s face is flaming red because he didn’t think they’d been that obvious, though they are quite late in returning if everyone’s finished a game of cards already. He flails about when Mike grins in return and says: “A girl’s refractory period is crazy fast.”

“Oh, jeez,” Dutch groans, somehow the only sane person in the room with Chuck because everyone else sniggers and laughs. Julie offers Mike a high five, which he returns, and Chuck is more than a little mortified. “I do not need to know that.”

“What, aren’t you going to go see Tennie later? It’s useful information,” Mike says, the cheeky grin still on his face.

Dutch glares at him. “I do not need to know that about you,” he corrects. “So be quiet or I’ll turn you into a duck.”

Mike mimes zipping his lips shut, though the mischievous twinkle in his eyes are still there.

Jacob clears his throat and nods pointedly at the ray gun and just like that, everyone’s silent. “You ready?” Jacob asks.

Mike squares his shoulders, though he’s looking straight at Chuck. He smiles, that familiar crooked smile, the one that Chuck has memorized every bit of. He smiles back because, well, they’ll be alright. Mike nods and turns back to Jacob, arms flung wide.

“Bring it.” 


End file.
